Introduction
Stating that Modi strategised his election campaign to deploy hate speech against the minorities, particularly Muslims, and create false sense of fear among the majority Hindus, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that Modi “made statements inciting discrimination, hostility, and violence against marginalized groups during his campaign to win his third consecutive term of office.” HRW said that it analysed 173 campaign speeches made by Modi and found that Islamophobic remarks were made in at least 110 speeches. The human rights body observed that the Prime Minister “repeatedly described Muslims as “infiltrators” and claimed Muslims had “more children” than other communities, raising the spectre that Hindus—about 80 percent of the population—will become a minority in India.” It also mentions the role of other BJP leaders in driving the hate agenda, including Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Assam CM Himanta Sarma, and former Minister Anurag Thakur.
The report mentions that “Modi regularly raised fears among Hindus through false claims that their faith, their places of worship, their wealth, their land, and the safety of girls and women in their community would be under threat from Muslims if the opposition parties came to power.”
It quoted Modi’s May 14 speech in Koderma, Jharkhand during which he said, “the idols of our gods are being destroyed” and that “these infiltrators [Muslims] have threatened the security of our sisters and daughters.” In another of his speech delivered in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, he said “If Congress has its way, it would say that the first right to live in India belongs to its vote bank [Muslims]. … Congress will give quota even in government contracts on the basis of religion.”
The rights body said the Election Commission of India failed to rein in the leader even after multiple complaints were sent to it against his election speeches which were clearly violative of the election’s code of conduct. HRW stated that “Despite finding that Modi and others had violated the guidelines, the commission only wrote to the office of the BJP president, without naming the prime minister, and asked that the BJP and its “star campaigners” refrain from making speeches along religious or communal lines. These directions did not deter Modi, who continued to make speeches inciting hate throughout the campaign period.” It also said that the country has witnessed a surge in anti-Muslim hate speech in India since the Modi administration first took office in 2014.
The study further notes that under the BJP rule, abuse and violence against Muslims, Christians, and other minorities have been normalised, with increased discriminatory policies promoted against the minorities. Commenting on the issue of demolitions carried by the authorities, often without due process of law, HRW said that these demolitions are often carried out as a “collective punishment” against the Muslim communities following communal clashes or dissent, and has been labelled as “Bulldozer Justice” by the members of the ruling regime.
Pointing out the increase in violence against the minorities by the vigilante groups and right-wing mobs, the rights body emphasises on the interlinkage between hate speech and physical attacks on the members of the marginalised groups. The report maintains that minorities have continued to face attacks since the election campaign period across the country. It stated that during 2014 election campaign Modi repeatedly called for protection of cows and strongly attacked Pink Revolution (meat production targets) touted by the then Congress government. As the BJP assumed the office, it further emphasised on statements promoting cow protection, which led to formation of numerous self-appointed cow-protection vigilante groups, and these organisations in turn drove attacks on minority communities with its virulent campaign against beef-consumption and cow slaughter, HRW noted. The study observed that “Between May 2015 and December 2018, at least 44 people—36 of them Muslims—were killed across 12 states. Over that same period, about 280 people were injured in more than 100 incidents across 20 states. The attacks have continued, with several more killed since then.”
On the increase in violence against Christians, it remarked that “Leaders from the BJP and affiliated Hindu nationalist groups have made statements that led to numerous mob attacks on churches in the last decade. In many cases, pastors have been beaten, prevented from holding religious meetings, and accused under anti-conversion laws, and churches have been vandalized.” In addition, it stated that in the aftermath of protests against farm laws which have since been withdrawn, the “anti-Sikh statements by BJP leaders led to a June 10 attack by two men on a Sikh man, whom they called Khalistani, in Haryana’s Kaithal district.”
The human rights body said that members of Hindu nationalist groups have also targeted the persecuted Rohingya Muslims living in Jammu and Delhi regions of the country. It said that after labelling Rohingya as “terrorists”, the right-wings groups have targeted their homes in arson, and noted that following a fire in Rohingya settlement in Delhi during which some 50 homes were burned in 2018, a BJP leader was reported posting on Twitter, saying “Well done by our heroes … Yes we burnt the houses of Rohingya terrorists.”
The report quoting the Asia Director of HRW said that “The Indian government’s claims of plurality and being the ‘mother of democracy’ ring hollow in the face of its abusive anti-minority actions,” and “The new Modi government needs to reverse its discriminatory policies, act on violence against minorities, and ensure justice for those affected.”
Related:
Hate speech escalates in India amidst general assembly election campaigns | CJP
‘Inflammatory, communal’: Modi inciting hate in Jharkhand, poll official told | SabrangIndia